RBG,
Laurel and Hardy
On the Basis of Sex
(U.S. http://www.focusfeatures.com/on-the-basis-of-sex)
One of the finer documentaries of 2018
is RBG
which covers the trail-blazing career of liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who turns 86 on March 15).
A multiple award winner, including being named best documentary by the
National Board of Review, it’s a contender for an Oscar nomination to be
announced January 22.
Director
Mimi Leder’s narrative takes a rather jaunty inspirational melodrama approach
to its subject, focusing on the period from 1956, when Bader Ginsburg (Felicity
Jones) was among a handful of women admitted to the Harvard Law School, to the
1970s when she, representing a male client, won a groundbreaking case before a
federal appeals court that hinged on overturning gender discrimination in tax
legislation. From the outset, and in that seminal case, Bader Ginsberg, then a
law professor, was strongly backed by supportive home husband and fellow lawyer
Martin Ginsberg (Armie Hammer), who overcame cancer to become a partner in a
prestigious law firm. Bader Ginsberg had to overcome many obstacles, notably
skeptical men in high places such as the Harvard law school dean Erwin Griswold
(Sam Waterston) who was Attorney General at the time she argued the celebrated
1970s case. She also had to convince the
reluctant male head of the American Civil Liberties Union to make common cause.
On the Basis of Sex closes with a few
clips of the real RBG from her Supreme Court tenure (she was pointed to the
court by Jimmy Carter in 1980) but that’s all it shows from the last four
decades of her remarkable career. Within
those limitations the film does a passable job.
However the documentary RBG is
the one to see for a much deeper and fuller portrait.
Justice
Bader Ginsburg has had some serious health issues recently. (She was released from hospital Christmas day
after a cancer-related surgery.) So one has to hope she hangs in there and
outlasts President Donald Trump who has already made two appointments to the
high court, the last a controversial ultra-conservative male judge accused of
sexual assault. B
Stan & Ollie
(UK/Canada/U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_%26_Ollie)
This delightful, and candid, ode to the
legendary comedy duo of Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C.
Reilly) did not reach Canadian shores until this month.
Reilly
has been a busy recently—in The Sisters
Brothers, the voice of Ralph in the popular animated feature Ralph Breaks the Internet, and as Dr.
Watson in Holmes & Watson, the
latter and unfortunately rather lamentable pairing with funny man Will Ferrell
as the famous fictional sleuth. He fares
much better here as Ollie, aided by prosthetics to portray the portly sidekick
affectionately known as “Babe”.
The
film opens in Culver City, California 1937 as the pair stroll through studio
sets and sound stages until performing a comic pose for the camera in front of
a Western backdrop. We then jump to a
packed movie palace audience convulsed in laugher as the same black-and-white
scene unfolds on the screen. It a glorious shot setup of movie make-believe and
magic. From this career highpoint the
picture fast forwards 16 years to Britain 1953 and the duo’s twilight years
doing a tour of variety halls as part of getting the production greenlight for
a planned Robin Hood comedy. (The
screenplay is based on A.J. Marriot’s 1993 book Laurel & Hardy: The British Tours.) At first audiences for their trademark stage
routines are sparse but public- appearance promotions pay off in a sold-out
engagement at London’s Lyceum theatre. Laurel’s bitchy Russian wife Ida (Nina
Arianda) and Hardy’s wife Lucille (Shirley Henderson) join them at the swank
Savoy hotel.
While
the longtime partners get past a tiff over part recriminations, and the news
that the picture deal is off, Hardy’s collapse from a mild heart attack is a
more serious blow. Their devotion to
each other is such that Laurel is unable to continue the show with another
comedian, and Hardy, ignoring doctors’ advice, returns to the stage for a
triumphant Irish tour. It will be their final act. The movie recalls their comic genius, and
brilliant performances by Reilly and Coogan bring to life the ups and downs of
an era that appreciated their innocent form of standup humour. A-
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